Joseph Luster
November 29, 2024 
It’s been nearly 40 years since the Megazone 23 OVA first premiered, and now the full trilogy is back and looking better than ever thanks to a Blu-ray collection from AnimEigo. With all three parts present and accounted for in glorious HD, now is a great time to take a trip back to the halcyon days of original video animation and see how Megazone 23 stacks up in ’24.
The first Megazone 23 entry is a purely poppy little mecha OVA with a healthy side of reality questioning that surely made its way into the DNA of The Matrix along with Ghost in the Shell and other anime. The story follows Shogo Yahagi, who meets Yui Takanaka while zipping along recklessly on his motorbike one day. With that little meet-cute out of the way, Shogo quickly finds himself running afoul of some top secret new technology in the form of a state-of-the-art motorcycle that puts his own hog to shame. Before he knows it, he’s running from agents who want their tech back and finding out this particular bike can transform into a powerful mech.
The truth of the mech in question is much more complex than some mere product being kept under wraps. It concerns the reality behind every aspect of our world, and the veil is about to be lifted from Shogo’s eyes in a major way. Without getting into too many spoilers for this 1985 classic, let’s just say the world is not as it seems, and both the motorcycle and an artificial singer named Eve play a major role in pulling the curtain back fully.
Megazone 23 presents its story with rapid-fire pacing, jumping from briskly-plotted exposition to white-knuckle action and back again effortlessly. It’s just a lot of fun, and watching it again now makes it even easier to realize why director Noboru Ishiguro’s beautiful sci-fi OVA was such a big hit when it launched in Japan. It was certainly hot enough to necessitate not one, but two sequels, the first of which serves as a completely different style of high point in the saga.
Megazone 23 II followed in 1986, but this time Ichiro Itano—the director of Angel Cop, Gantz and more, and also of “Itano Circus” fame—took over the role of director, with Yasuomi Umetsu (Kite, Mezzo Forte) providing character designs. Watching these two side-by-side makes for an even clearer realization of their stark differences. Not only are Shogo and Yui utterly unrecognizable, but Megazone 23 II is a gritty, subterranean action romp that ups the ante and the violence. It can be jarring at first, especially if you’re watching it immediately after the first entry, but it’s truly a landmark production. It’s meaty yet focused and really hones in on the vision set up before it.
Megazone 23 III is a different beast entirely, but not in such a shockingly good way. It takes place years after the events of the second OVA, centering on a B Level hacker named Eiji Takanaka. Eve remains a touchstone, but those riding off the lofty expectations of the first two Megazone 23 OVAs will likely find themselves feeling a little lost and disappointed in what directors Kenichi Yatagai (Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki) and Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045) have to offer. It drags and it overstays its welcome, making for a fizzle of an closer to what would have otherwise been a stellar trilogy.
Even if one part or the other doesn’t work for you, the artistry behind it all is undeniable. All three entries have that quality of raw life that’s unique to OVAs of the period. So much exhaustive and meticulous work went into the animation of the most mundane details. The way a giant plug enters a socket; the fully-animated reflection of a jittering tailpipe. Anime may look super slick today, but there’s nothing quite like this aesthetic in my book.
As usual, the folks at AnimEigo are well aware of this and have given Megazone 23 the treatment it deserves in the transition to Blu-ray. If you’re afraid of film grain and cel scratches and other lovely imperfections, stay away. This is the type of presentation I love to see from classic anime restoration. It has a tactile look to it, and is respectful of the immense work that went into bringing these stories to life.
AnimEigo’s work on this is more than just restoration, though. It’s the truest sense of anime preservation, especially when you factor in the various dubs available for each part. All three have the complete ADV Films dub included. On top of that, the Streamline Pictures dub is an option for part 1, the International Version is available for Part 2, and the UK dub can be selected for Part 3. There’s also Japanese commentary and some other bonuses that make this a collection worth owning. Megazone 23 isn’t perfect, but at certain points it gets dangerously close.
Studio/Company: AnimEigo
Available: Now
Ratinng: 18+
